Ticket hopefuls onthe edge in Vikarabad

Vikarabad: There has been a continuous debate about Vikarabad constituency since dissolution of Assembly in Telangana. Even TRS party, which announced the candidates for 105 constituencies for early polls, did not mention about the candidate for Vikarabad. All the parties adopted a wait-and-see policy fearing ‘rebel’ problem. They thought the disappointed aspirants may cross the lines or pose threat to the prospects of their official candidates.

Though Congress took some time to announce its list, former minister G Prasad Kumar’s name was above all the aspirants and he started his campaign much earlier. As expected, his name was found in the first list. The candidates from TRS are still not announced. Though several names were surfaced, no party officially announced its candidates in haste. When congress announced its candidate, ‘rebel’ leaders came to the fore. The dissident leader, former minister A Chandrasekhar file his nomination on Wednesday along with party’s official candidate Prasad Kumar. This development irked the party cadre as well as state leadership.

But Prasad Kumar assured the party that he will directly talk to Chandrasekhar and request him to extend cooperation. But it does not seem easy as there has been a wide gap between the two. Nevertheless, both are very strong leaders in the constituency. Chandrasekhar is a five-time MLA and also served as minister. He has good number of followers in both Congress and TRS party. This situation is a serious concern for the party. The tussle between the two will affect the prospects of winning. If both leaders join hands, winning is a cake walk for Congress party. Otherwise, the party believes that, the situation will help the opponents. The leaders are trying to console Chandrasekhar that he will be given a plum position, if party comes to power.

Prasad Kumar has also been continuously building his cadre for these years of TRS rule. He attended every event organized by party activists. Gradually he was emerged as one of the strongest leaders in the constituency. Party’s national president Rahul Gandhi personally invited him to Delhi and appreciated his work. To face these two strong leaders is the biggest task for TRS. The party did not announce its candidate until Thursday, and finally handed B-Form to Methuku Anandam as its candidate.